Night Sky Photography

Night sky photography has always been something we have loved. The vast open sky filled with millions of sparkling worlds beyond our own. It was decided that we would head out to capture some shots of our own.

If you want the very best from your night sky photography you need to do a little research. The first thing you should check is the light pollution maps online. These give pretty accurate information and allow you to find the darkest areas around you. We use the map found on this site. At the moment we are down in Cornwall, after consulting the site linked, we identified the Bodmin Moor area as a photography target.

Once this was done we moved onto checking the moon phase. You want there to be as little light as possible to give the best views of the stars. Using a tool such as the photographers ephemeris can help tremendously with this. It will give you simple things such as the moon phases and when sunset will occur, but also allow you to map your location exactly with things like elevation of your surroundings. It is an essential tool for any kind of landscape work or trip planning.

With the date in the calendar we kept an eye on the weather and hoped to see clear skies. We used the clear outside site to view this. The forecast was good and we headed out, only to find the sky filled with cloud. We took a walk around anyway, in the hope that the forecast would prove correct and to have an explore of the surroundings. Our persistence paid off when the skies suddenly cleared and we were treated to a vast vista of stars. We took along a head torch which also allowed for some different shots, these can all be found below. We also used the shadows of some nearby trees to add contrast. It pays to get creative in night sky photography to capture something a little different.